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Children of Brazil's Movimento dos Sem-Teto (Roofless Movement) members play at an area that used to be a nursery and school in Sao Paulo March 10, 2013. More than 1,200 people from Brazil's roofless movement live in an explosion prone area that has been contaminated with methane since October 2012, local media reported. According to the Environmental Sanitation Technology Company in the State of Sao Paulo (CETESB) the soil and water from the groundwater are contaminated with methane. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

A woman from Brazil's Movimento dos Sem-Teto (Roofless Movement) walks at an area that used to be a nursery and school in Sao Paulo March 10, 2013. More than 1,200 people from Brazil's roofless movement live in an explosion prone area that has been contaminated with methane since October 2012, local media reported. According to the Environmental Sanitation Technology Company in the State of Sao Paulo (CETESB) the soil and water from the groundwater are contaminated with methane. Picture taken March 10, 2013. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

A woman from Brazil's Movimento dos Sem-Teto (Roofless Movement) cooks at an area that used to be a nursery and school in Sao Paulo March 10, 2013. More than 1,200 people from Brazil's roofless movement live in an explosion prone area that has been contaminated with methane since October 2012, local media reported. According to the Environmental Sanitation Technology Company in the State of Sao Paulo (CETESB) the soil and water from the groundwater are contaminated with methane. Picture taken March 10, 2013. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

A man from Brazil's Movimento dos Sem-Teto (Roofless Movement) fixes his shack at an area that used to be a nursery and school in Sao Paulo March 10, 2013. More than 1,200 people from Brazil's roofless movement live in an explosion prone area that has been contaminated with methane since October 2012, local media reported. According to the Environmental Sanitation Technology Company in the State of Sao Paulo (CETESB) the soil and water from the groundwater are contaminated with methane. Picture taken March 10, 2013. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

Children of a member of Brazil's Movimento dos Sem-Teto (Roofless Movement) play at an area that used to be a nursery and school in Sao Paulo March 10, 2013. More than 1,200 people from Brazil's roofless movement live in an explosion prone area that has been contaminated with methane since October 2012, local media reported. According to the Environmental Sanitation Technology Company in the State of Sao Paulo (CETESB) the soil and water from the groundwater are contaminated with methane. Picture taken March 10, 2013. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

Members of Brazil's Movimento dos Sem-Teto (Roofless Movement) watch TV at an area that used to be a nursery and school in Sao Paulo March 10, 2013. More than 1,200 people from Brazil's roofless movement live in an explosion prone area that has been contaminated with methane since October 2012, local media reported. According to the Environmental Sanitation Technology Company in the State of Sao Paulo (CETESB) the soil and water from the groundwater are contaminated with methane. Picture taken March 10, 2013. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

A woman from Brazil's Movimento dos Sem-Teto (Roofless Movement) sits in her bed at an area that used to be a nursery and school in Sao Paulo March 10, 2013. More than 1,200 people from Brazil's roofless movement live in an explosion prone area that has been contaminated with methane since October 2012, local media reported. According to the Environmental Sanitation Technology Company in the State of Sao Paulo (CETESB) the soil and water from the groundwater are contaminated with methane. Picture taken March 10, 2013. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

A woman from Brazil's Movimento dos Sem-Teto (Roofless Movement) ties her hair next to her children at an area that used to be a nursery and school in Sao Paulo March 10, 2013. More than 1,200 people from Brazil's roofless movement live in an explosion prone area that has been contaminated with methane since October 2012, local media reported. According to the Environmental Sanitation Technology Company in the State of Sao Paulo (CETESB) the soil and water from the groundwater are contaminated with methane. Picture taken March 10, 2013. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

Laundry is hung out to dry next to a woman from Brazil's Movimento dos Sem-Teto (Roofless Movement) at an area that used to be a nursery and school in Sao Paulo March 10, 2013. More than 1,200 people from Brazil's roofless movement live in an explosion prone area that has been contaminated with methane since October 2012, local media reported. According to the Environmental Sanitation Technology Company in the State of Sao Paulo (CETESB) the soil and water from the groundwater are contaminated with methane. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

Debora, 41, a member of Brazil's Movimento dos Sem-Teto (Roofless Movement), holds her disabled son Joao Vitor, 5, at an area that used to be a nursery and school in Sao Paulo March 10, 2013. More than 1,200 people from Brazil's roofless movement live in an explosion prone area that has been contaminated with methane since October 2012, local media reported. According to the Environmental Sanitation Technology Company in the State of Sao Paulo (CETESB) the soil and water from the groundwater are contaminated with methane. Picture taken March 10, 2013. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

A man from Brazil's Movimento dos Sem-Teto (Roofless Movement) holds a TV, as other men help him climb down a ladder at an area that used to be a nursery and school in Sao Paulo March 10, 2013. More than 1,200 people from Brazil's roofless movement live in an explosion prone area that has been contaminated with methane since October 2012, local media reported. According to the Environmental Sanitation Technology Company in the State of Sao Paulo (CETESB) the soil and water from the groundwater are contaminated with methane. Picture taken March 10, 2013. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

Members of Brazil's Movimento dos Sem-Teto (Roofless Movement) talk at an area that used to be a nursery and school in Sao Paulo March 10, 2013. More than 1,200 people from Brazil's roofless movement live in an explosion prone area that has been contaminated with methane since October 2012, local media reported. According to the Environmental Sanitation Technology Company in the State of Sao Paulo (CETESB) the soil and water from the groundwater are contaminated with methane. Picture taken March 10, 2013. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

Photos: Poor Brazilians overtake abandoned buildings as part of the Roofless Movement

Photos from one of Brazil's Movimento dos Sem-Teto (Roofless Movement) occupations in an area that used to be a nursery and school in Sao Paulo. More than 1,200 people live in the area which has been contaminated with methane since October 2012, local media reported.
With over 15,000 homeless people and almost 40,000 abandoned buildings in Sao Paulo, one of the main goals of the Movimento dos Sem-Teto is to convert empty buildings into housing for the city's poor while pushing for housing reform.